


Home Is With You

by wakeupstiles



Category: Scream (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, F/F, Happy Ending, PTSD, Post S2, Rebuilding Relationship, Rebuilding Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-22
Packaged: 2018-08-10 06:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7834426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wakeupstiles/pseuds/wakeupstiles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was only one place that felt like home, and that was with each other.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home Is With You

**Author's Note:**

> I am Emrey trash goodbye.
> 
> Written for finalgirlfriends on Tumblr.

_Question: How do you repair something that’s broken into a million pieces?_

 

 

 

People stared.  

**Lakewood Six Survives Second Killing Spree**

But it wasn’t the Lakewood Six that survived. Jake was buried. Kieran was in prison. Eli and Stavo remained. **The New Lakewood Six Survives Second Killing Spree,** but that was too big of a mouthful for the papers.

They would never forget, though.

Time wouldn’t let them.

 

 

 

People talked.

_“I wonder if she has any scars.”_

_“I wonder if he’ll ever love again.”_

_“I wonder how she can be forgiven.”_

_“I wonder if she cries herself to sleep.”_

_“I wonder if he’s the third accomplice.”_

_“I wonder if he knew it was him all along.”_

They talked and the Six listened.

 

 

 

Audrey hated. With every fiber of her being she hated. Herself. The town. Kieran. Piper.

_Hated. Hated. Hated._

She would walk down the hallways with her friends, her Lakewood Six, and people would stick to the walls to let them pass. Being around them was a curse, she learned. They were all damned, she knew. Anyone who got close to them died. Anyone who got sucked into their chaotic lives wound up caught in the crossfire and didn’t survive the fallout. She controlled her temper, she bit her tongue. She hoped no one could see how she was dying.

Emma saw.

 

 

 

Emma tried. With every part of her soul she tried. To forgive herself. To forgive Audrey. To forgive the town for breeding hate.

_Tried. Tried. Tried._

“I’m okay.” She repeated to herself like a mantra. Over and over, _I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay._ She figured if she said it enough then she really would be okay—or she could pretend to believe it. She ignored the stares, she turned out the whispers, she pretended that she was getting better. She hoped no one could see how she wanted to give up.

Audrey saw.

 

 

 

“Of all the bad things I’ve done, disappointing you has been the worst.” Audrey whispered one night as she lay in bed. Her cell phone was tucked between her chin and her shoulder, her arms crossed over her chest, her feet dangling off the edge of the bed.

The other end of the line was silent for a few moments, then the soft voice spoke, “It's okay.” Low and gentle. So gentle, tears started forming in the corner of Audrey’s eyes.

Audrey couldn’t sleep, neither of them could. Or if she did then she was plagued with nightmares of killing or being killed. Of being blamed and burning at the stake like the witch she was. She called Emma the night after, terrified and on the brink of a panic attack. The other girl answered, having woken up from a nightmare herself, and they stayed on the line with one another until the sun rose. They didn’t talk much, but the comfort of knowing they weren’t alone was enough to settle them.

Piper was dead. Kieran was gone. But still she laid with the ceiling light on, the bedside lamp glowing, and her TV humming lowly in the background. The door was locked, the windows were barred. And still she was terrified.

She knew the fear would never leave.

 

 

 

“Of all the mistakes I’ve made, leaving you all those years ago has been the biggest.” Emma admitted a few nights later. She was lying on her stomach on her bed, staring at the floor, one hand holding her phone to her ear while the other was picking at the carpet below her.

“It's okay.” The soft voice on the other end answered after a few seconds. Emma opened her mouth to argue, but her throat closed and her nose began to tingle with the threat of tears. So, instead of saying something else, she became silent and switched positions on the bed so that she was lying on her back against the abundance of pillows behind her. She laid her phone on her chest and laced her fingers over her stomach, and looked blankly at the dark TV screen in front of her.

Audrey remained quiet, only the rustle of blankets to be heard through the speaker. Emma exhaled a shaky breath, closed her eyes and prayed sleep would come. Instead, a second after the darkness took her over, _he_ was there. Standing over her, a knife raised over her chest, that goddamn _smile_ on his face that she used to _love._

Emma snapped her eyes open and blinked rapidly, took deep breaths to calm her racing heartbeat. It would be another sleepless night, but she wasn’t surprised. On the rare nights that she did rest, the nightmares invaded her mind like wildfire, spreading through her like a disease she would never be rid of. Her wearing the mask, her killing her friends, her joining Kieran, her with blood covering her body and a wicked grin on her face.

She opted for exhaustion.

Piper was dead. Kieran was gone. Yet she checked her locks at least five times a night before locking herself in her room. Check the locks, check the windows, the locks, the windows, the locks, the windows. Pull the curtains, turn on the flood lights. Lock her bedroom door, put slivers of glass under her window in case someone tried to come in she would be able to hear them when they took a step. Check the locks two more times, the windows one more, then bury herself in her blankets and stare at the wall until it was daybreak.

She knew the paranoia was there to stay.

 

 

 

The stares never got lighter.

Emma thought after the first time she would be okay. That she could handle it a second time. Everyone’s eyes on her. Piper’s sister. Kieran’s girlfriend. Spawn of the devil. She didn’t murder all those people but everyone looked at her like she had.

_Murderer. Murderer. Murderer._

She could hear their disgusted looks chant.

 

 

 

The whispers never silenced.

Audrey figured she could handle it. Who cared what they thought? Who cared what they said? She did. Piper’s accomplice. Kieran’s accomplice. Witch from hell. She never worked with them, but that didn’t matter to the town.

_Murderer. Murderer. Murderer._

She could hear their pinched mouths shout.

 

 

 

“I’m okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“I’m alright.”

Emma wondered how much longer she would have to keep up the charade. Until everyone believed or until she believed it. She wanted everyone to leave her alone. She wanted to be in peace. She wasn’t fragile; she was keeping it together. Her smile was tight and deceiving. Her voice was light and airy. Her clothes were bright and inviting.

_I’m fine. I’m fine. I’m fine._

And she was, until she saw a guy wearing a black hoodie in the hallway at school. She was having a conversation with Brooke by her locker, about what she couldn’t remember. Everything was fine until she saw black swoop by in her peripheral vision. Her blood ran cold, her eyes grew wide, her heart stopped. She felt a scream rising inside of her chest but before she could blink, she was in the girl’s bathroom, on her knees, gasping for air with tears streaming down her face.

It took a while to register that Audrey was kneeling beside her, a hand rubbing soothing circles on her back while the other stroked her hair. Emma wanted to pull away and snap that she was fine, that she wasn’t fragile, that she could _handle it._

But she didn’t because she couldn’t.

So she did the only thing that felt right: she leaned into Audrey’s chest and closed her eyes, concentrated on evening her breathing. Audrey was mumbling things to her, but she couldn’t make out what they were. She wanted to ask if it was okay, if they were okay to do this, but from the way Audrey had her arms around her, she assumed nothing else mattered. With Audrey there, holding her, she felt like she was home.

 

 

 

“I’m fine.”

“I’m okay.”

“I’m good.”

Audrey was the strong one. Or so she tried to convince herself. She was the rock. She could handle it. Put on a smile, laugh at some stupid jokes, breathe, repeat. All she had to do was get through the day and then she could go home and lock herself in her room. All she had to do was keep it together for her friends and then she could lose it when she was alone.

_I’m okay. I’m okay. I’m okay._

And she believed it, until she was in the library and heard someone comment that _Emma was working with him and Piper, you just know it. The Final Girl is the Final Girl because she betrayed them. She killed her friends and_ —Audrey didn’t hear the rest because her ears began ringing. She hadn’t realized that she punched the guy in the face because her vision turned black for a split second, and when it had returned, her nostrils were flaring, her hand was throbbing, and the guy was holding his broken, bloody nose, glaring like he wanted to cut her in half. She wished he would have.

He shouted something at her but she couldn’t hear. Everything was moving in slow motion, her breathing had become erratic, and before she knew it she was in the library utility closet, hands on her knees, gulping down air in the attempt to catch her breath. “It’s okay, Audrey, just breathe. It’s okay. You’re okay.” Emma kept repeating soothingly, rubbing her hand up and down the other girl’s arm gently.

Audrey tried to ask when Emma got there, or how they ended up in the closet, but she was afraid if she spoke that she would break into tears. So instead, Audrey slid down the wall and Emma went with her, pulled her into her arms, and held her tightly while her fingers carded through Audrey’s short hair. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around Emma’s back, pressing them closer together. She wanted to ask if this was okay, but from the way Emma was holding her, inviting her, she supposed that it was. Taking a deep breath, she sighed and allowed herself to be home.

 

 

 

“I forgive you.” Emma said one night while they were sitting on her bedroom floor with their backs against her bed. Audrey’s eyes grew wide and a familiar fire lit her chest, though it wasn’t out of fear, not this time. She looked over at Emma, who still had her eyes trained on the wall. “I forgive you.” She repeated, taking a gulp of her beer and then grabbing Audrey’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Emma turned to her and gave the other girl a faint smile. “I forgive you.” She said again, nodding with each word. And she would say it a million more times until the girl sitting next to her believed it.

 

 

 

“Forgive yourself.” Audrey murmured a few weeks later as they were lying on her roof at four a.m. Emma turned to her and pursed her lips together, ready to argue. Audrey grabbed the girl’s hand and brought it to her lips, giving her knuckles barely-there kiss, then whispered, “It’s okay to forgive yourself.” She kissed each other Emma’s fingers, her lips lingering a little more than necessary, but Emma didn’t mind. She scooted closer to Audrey, resting her head on her chest as the dark haired girl wrapped her arm around Emma’s shoulders and began playing with her hair. “None of it was your fault.” Audrey said with certainty, and she would repeat it every day until the girl lying next to her believed it.

 

 

 

Two girls stood in front of the movie theater, staring up at the large building with expecting expressions. People walked in and out around them, some of them side eyeing the girls as they passed, some of them pointing, some of them glaring. But they didn’t notice the looks or the whispers because they were too absorbed into each other.

“Are you okay?” Audrey asked under her breath, looking over at the girl beside her with furrowed brows and a little anxiety bubbling in her stomach.

Emma smiled, turned to Audrey, grabbed her hand, and said, “Yes.” There was no crack in her voice, no strain to get the words out.

For the first time she meant it.

She raised her brows and asked, “Are you?”

Audrey smiled back, gave Emma’s hand a squeeze, and said, “Yeah.” She said easily. The butterflies in Audrey’s stomach subsided and were replaced with a warm tingle, something she could get used to.

For the first time she believed it.

For the first time they were okay.

They were home.

 

 

 

_Answer: with time_

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written anything in a really long time, so I apologize if that shows here. But I'm actually quite happy with how this turned out and I like the writing style I chose. Lemme know what you think! Also, the repeating words for their sections is deliberate because it's supposed to be like a mirror of their situations? If that makes since. Just know it's supposed to be like that if you can't tell!
> 
> *prayer circle Scream gets renewed for s3*


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